Think back, back to that all night party that found you sicker than a dog (sorry canine lovers). You know how your mouth salivates right before you wretch? Yeah? Well, when I look at the pictures I took of this meal versus what it tasted like … that’s how I feel. Like wretching. Sure you’re thinking to yourself, “dang man, it’s just Chicken Cacciatore, lighten up pal.” Yeah, well you didn’t have any.
Last Friday evening started off great. I had a natural chicken I wanted to cook for dinner, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do another ‘roast’ chicken. I dug through the fridge and oddly enough we had just about what I needed for Chicken Cacciatore. Off to my laptop I flew to check Food TV’s web site and see what Tyler Florence had to say.
Easy and straight forward. First off I had to roast the red bell peppers and scrape the skin off.
I pieced out the whole chicken, floured it, dipped in egg wash, flour then a shallow fry skin side down first, about 5 minutes a side. Do not fully cook.
Then you have to make your base. (For a complete recipe please visit Food TV’s web site.) I did this just fine, although I didn’t have anchovies, a lemon and white wine. I wasn’t concerned, I had a lime and some red wine. Use what you have, I say. Besides, it was Friday night for crissakes.
See, it all looks fine doesn’t it? Sure did to me.
I finished the recipe in fine style, even the chicken was correct.
It came time for the tasting, to see what else it might need. I was hit right in the face with a bright rancid lime flavor. It made your tongue jump. I stared in disbelief realizing that I should NOT have substituted a lime for a lemon. I could feel my feet slip out from under me and I leaned against the stove. “oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man. Is there anything I can do? What would MacGuyver do?” The first thing that comes to mind is to add some sugar, so I did. But to stir it into the pot required some stiring and it started to pull the coating off the chicken. Soon it was a sweeter rancid lime flavor.
Nearly the entire meal was slopped off in to the trash. Game over, son.
Aw… the school of hard knocks done smacked you upside the head, again!!! You know, I could’ve picked up some lemons for you on the way home…
Or I could have gone around the corner to the most awesome Mexican market in the world, had I known what it would have done. Or just left out the citrus. I already bastardized the recipe by not using anchovies or white wine. I was just looking for nice meal.
I won’t be making that mistake again, I can sure as hell say that fer sure.